


Fool Me Once

by dragonVengeance12



Category: Saving Hope (TV), The Originals (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:33:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26197915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonVengeance12/pseuds/dragonVengeance12
Summary: Joel Goran is a single father who just so happens to move to New Orleans at the height of vampire king Marcel Gerard's reign.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a working title that may be changed later.

“Flight 246 to New Orleans will be boarding at gate 13 in ten minutes.”

Joel Goran looked up at the announcement to see a group of people already lining up before the doors. His eyes roved over the line, stopping when they were met with the sight of a young boy, couldn’t be older than nine, playing with a toy aeroplane at his father’s feet. The young doctor smiled to himself, relishing in the playfulness and joy emitting from the young man.

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft cry of a baby, and he looked down to his six-month-old son. “Shhh, it’s okay, Luke,” he whispered soothingly whilst gently rocking his crib. “We’ll get on the plane soon.” Luke cooed happily from his seat, his arms reaching up to grab onto his daddy’s face, something he’s been doing a lot of lately

Joel chuckled to himself, a small smile firmly set on his face as they boarded the plane. He securely strapped his son into the seat next to his before storing his carry on luggage in the overhead bin and settling into his chair. He sighed deeply and mentally prepared himself for his new life as a single parent in the great city of New Orleans.

_6 Hours Later_

Joel was unpacking his clothes from his suitcase into the master closet. He had managed to acquire a nice little apartment for him and his son on the outskirts of the French Quarter, so they wouldn’t be disturbed by the loud noises of the city. It was also roughly thirteen minutes walking distance away from the Tulane Medical Hospital where he would be starting work next week. 

He chanced a glance at his sleeping son who was laid atop the master bed to check that he was resting easily before turning back to his suitcase. His breath caught as his eyes laid upon a framed photo of himself, his fiancé Alex Reid, and Luke. It was taken right after he was born, right before everything went to hell. 

There were complications with the pregnancy, complications that led to him having to raise their baby boy on his own and to Luke having to grow up without a mother. During the first few months he had been back at Hope Zion, he thought things would settle down and go back to a semi-stable environment. Looking at it now, he knew it was just wishful thinking. Everything reminded him of Alex; the small coffee joint where they met every morning before work, the nurse’s station where they would exchange playful quips and pickup lines, the OR where they performed their most miraculous surgeries together. Soon, he just couldn’t take the pitiful glances and the mollycoddling from his coworkers any longer and jumped at the chance to be transferred from Hope Zion to Tulane Medical.

His eyelids fell closed as pressure began to build up behind them and he breathed in deeply to steady his wavering breath. He looked between the two unpacked suitcases that were standing idly and alone by the door and his little boy who was threatened to be swallowed up by the warm, cosy queen-sized bed underneath him and sighed. The rest could wait until the movers get there with the furniture in the morning. For now, he just wanted to lay down with his son and enjoy the peace of their new life.


	2. Chapter 2

Joel was walking through the busy streets of the French Quarter, pushing a stroller in front of him and gawking at all the storefronts and vendors that lined the road. He felt the stroller jostle left and right as Luke squirmed in his seat, and his ears picked up the telltale sounds of his son’s discomfort. He pulled the stroller into a nearby alley away from the large crowds of tourists and locals and away from prying eyes to check on his son.

He locked the wheels of the stroller in place and knelt in front of Luke, who was at the moment sporting a rather sour face and the cutest little pout that he had ever seen. “Hey, little man, what’s the matter?” he asked softly. “Is it too loud?” 

“Ba,” Luke said unhappily, and Joel frowned at his son’s mood. He looked around to see if anyone was looking at them and was content to find that no one had followed them into the alley. He turned back to his son and slowly waved his hands in front of him, light blue glowing sparkles emerging in the space between. Immediately, Luke’s grumpy expression changed to one of delight as he reached out to touch the magical lights. Joel smiled and chuckled to himself, straightening up so they could head back to the apartment. They had seen enough for one day.

But before he could unlock the wheels, a deep voice interrupted from behind him.

“Well, look what we have here? I set out to catch a witch but instead find an Original who, by my calculations, should be 50,000 miles away from here if he knows what’s good for him.” 

Joel turned around to find a dark-skinned man staring at him and giving him a smirk that was far from friendly. “Excuse me?” he asked, confused. It sounded like he should know this guy but for the life of him couldn’t pinpoint from where.

“What the hell are you doing here, Elijah?” the man asked, spatting out the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “It’s bad enough that I have one Original running around my city.”

“Look, mate, I have no idea who you are or who this Elijah guy is, so I really think you should just leave us alone,” Joel said, frowning. 

“Not until I know what exactly you think you’re doing in my city.”

Joel sighed in frustration. Either this guy was ignoring him or he was just completely stupid and couldn't take a hint even if it was staring at him right in the face. Before he could argue further, the other guy was inches away from him and he caught the veins under his eyes which were beginning to turn black. 

‘Vampire. Just my luck. I come to New Orleans to get a fresh, peaceful new start with my son and then this happens. There goes that plan.’ He eyed the vampire who looked like he wanted to tear his heart out right where he stood, but he didn’t back down nor did he show any surprise or fear. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Luke decided that it was time to make his presence known and started squirming in his stroller, trying to catch a glimpse of his daddy’s new friend. The movement caught both men’s attention and the other guy immediately backed down.

“The hell is this?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes at Joel. “You’re taking in innocent kids now? Gonna abandon this one too?”

“You have no right to talk to us like that mate. Now if you don’t mind, I would very much like to take  _ my _ son,” he gave him a pointed look, “off these streets and back home, so as I said before,  _ leave us alone _ .” He hissed the last few words, attaching some of his mental powers to them in order to persuade him to do just that. He hated using his powers for that reason, kind of like compelling for a vampire, but there was no other way to get out of that situation. For a few seconds, it looked like he was trying to fight it, but eventually gave in and left.

Joel breathed deeply in relief before checking one more time on his son. Once satisfied, he began making the walk back to his apartment before their unwanted visitor decided to come back, though there was an inkling in the back of his mind that told him this wouldn’t be the last time they’d meet. 

Despite the disastrous ending to their afternoon stroll, he did learn one thing that was fairly useful: Don’t use magic in the Quarter.

—————————————————————–

Marcel passed through the doors of St. Louis Cathedral and made his way up to the attic. He knocked on the door that was left ajar and peeked his head through. “Hey, hey, Little D.”

At the window stood a sixteen-year-old girl standing in front of an easel. She turned her head in the direction of the door at the sound, and when she saw the older vampire standing there, her eyes lit up and she smiled. “Marcel,” she greeted. “Come in.”

“How’s my little witch doing? Are there any disturbances?” Marcel asked as he went to go sit on her bed.

“Everything’s good. It’s all quiet out there. The witches know better than to practice magic in the Quarter.”

“That’s good to know.” They settled into a comfortable silence as Davina turned back to her drawing and Marcel continued to watch her. He noticed the slight frown set upon her face the way she held the piece of charcoal loosely in her hands whilst making large strokes. “What’s wrong, D?”

“Hmm?” Davina looked at Marcel as if just remembering that he was there. “Oh, it’s nothing really.” She turned back to the easel but didn’t bring the charcoal to the paper, instead opting to study the half-finished drawing. It was of New Orleans at night, filled with lots of people partying and dancing. The sight of the picture made her second guess herself. “Well, actually, there is maybe something. I just… Do you think I could go outside? Just this once?”

Marcel sighed. “Davina, we talked about this. It’s just not safe for you right now.”

“But when will it ever be safe for me?” Davina argued. “The witches aren’t active for fear that they'll be caught and executed, the werewolves are out of the picture, and you’ve got the vampires under your thumb.”

“Listen, D. A man came into the city yesterday, Klaus Mikaelson. He’s not like other vampires. He’s an Original. They’ve been here for over a thousand years and they can’t be killed. Klaus is the most vicious of his siblings and he will do anything to get what he wants, even kill those in his way, and I have absolutely no idea what that is.” He glanced at Davina who looked nonplussed by this information. “Look, just give me a few days to find out why he’s here and then we’ll come back to this convo, alright?”

“Alright,” Davina agreed begrudgingly. “But only for-” She stopped midsentence and Marcel looked at her in concern.

“Davina?” When there was no answer, he gently took her shoulders in his hands so as not to spook her. “Davina, talk to me.”

“Someone’s doing magic in the Quarter.” She turned her wide eyes to Marcel and he nodded.  Seconds later, he was rushing towards the location that Davina relayed to him, some back alley near the corner of Royal and Iberville Sts. When he reached the alley, he looked inside to see the last person he ever wanted to see... well, second to the last person.

“Well, look what we have here? I set out to catch a witch but instead find an Original who, by my calculations, should be 50,000 miles away from here if he knows what’s good for him.” 

The man who he thought was Elijah Mikaelson turned around to face him and he raised his eyebrow, smirk firmly placed on his face. If memory served him right, Elijah was always dressed to the nines in a three-piece suit and tie, but now he was wearing dark blue jeans and a grey plaid shirt. Marcel just mentally shrugged that off as a minor detail that changed over the years and narrowed his eyes at the Original.

“What the hell are you doing here, Elijah? It’s bad enough that I have one Original running around my city.”

“Look, mate, I have no idea who you are or who this Elijah guy is, so I really think you should just leave us alone.” 

This made Marcel angrier. He was so not in the mood for games. “Not until I know what exactly you think you’re doing in my city.”

He waited for Elijah to reply but decided he was taking too long. He sped up to the other man so that they were mere inches apart and vamped out. If he wasn’t aware that this guy couldn’t die, he wouldn’t think twice before ripping out his heart right here, right now.

A sudden movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked behind them to see what he had missed before: a stroller facing away from them and a young boy peeking out. He had three rules: don’t feed on the locals, don’t kill another vampire, and  _ definitely  _ don’t hurt kids. He immediately backed down so as to not frighten him, but his scowl deepened as he looked at the older man.

“The hell is this?” he demanded, gesturing to the infant. “You’re taking in innocent kids now? Gonna abandon this one too?”

“You have no right to talk to us like that, mate. Now if you don’t mind, I would very much like to take  _ my _ son,” Marcel raised his eyebrow in disbelief, “off these streets and back home, so as I said before,  _ leave us alone _ .” As he said those last words, he could hear a tiny voice in the back of his mind telling him to do what he said. He wanted to just ignore it, but it was so commanding and getting louder and louder as the seconds went by. Eventually, he succumbed to the magic and vamp sped away from the alley.

He was halfway back to the cathedral when he paused and his face took on a look of confusion. ‘What just happened back there? He wasn't being compelled, their eyes didn't dilate and Elijah was too far away for it to be effective. It was definitely magic related. Something or someone must have been monitoring our meeting.’ He shook his head as if trying to mix up these thoughts in order to look at them from another angle. He needed a witch to make sense of this, and he knew just who to go to.

In no time, he was standing outside the door of Davina’s room. “Knock, knock,” he said before entering.

“Did you catch the witch?” Davina immediately said, forgoing the greetings.

“Unfortunately, no. I got a little sidetracked. Apparently, Klaus’s brother Elijah is also in town.”

“What are they doing here?”

“Afraid I’m still in the dark on that. I tried to get it out him but he forced me to leave. I think he has a witch backing him up. Think you can look into that for me?”

“‘Course,” Davina agreed, nodding her head. “That must be what I sensed. I’ll get to it right away.”

“Thanks, D.” Marcel gave her a quick hug before walking towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As he made his way back to the Abbatoir, he thought over the afternoon’s events. The last time the Mikaelsons were in New Orleans, trouble followed and they fled without a second glance back, not even a single thought about who they were leaving behind. And now they have the audacity to come back and act like they owned the place as if nothing happened. No, something was going on with that family, and for the life of him he would find out what that was, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I had a completely different beginning to this story written in my mind, but as my fingertips hit the keyboard, this came out instead. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.


	3. Chapter 3

Joel walked through the streets of the French Quarter after finishing his first week at Tulane Medical Hospital. In that week, he noticed the atmosphere was a lot like Hope Zion’s: friendly, entertaining, and full to the brim with juicy gossip. The staff there had been surprisingly welcoming, a good contrast to his second day here.

Speaking of, since then, he’d been actively trying to stay away from all the supernatural happenings that seemed to be at every corner of this damn city, which had been getting harder and harder each day. The vampire from before, who he learned to be Marcel Gerard, the so-called King of New Orleans, hadn’t approached him at all in the past week, not that he was complaining, but if he thought that he wouldn’t notice the men that were tailing him every day, then he was an idiot. That’s actually how he got his information. After picking through their brains, he found out about Marcel and the witches and even some stuff about the Originals that cleared up a lot of things.

Once he got his fill, rather than erasing their memories of him or their silent conversations altogether, he just sent them on their way, following some poor stranger on the street who they thought was him. It would look too suspicious if he went with the first two options. From what he gathered, Marcel Gerard was a smart man, and he would automatically pick up on the gaps in his guys’ memories when they give him their reports. He would very much like it if they never met again and Marcel stayed away from him and Luke.

But of course, this was New Orleans, one of the supernatural capitals of the world, where literally anything could happen at any moment.

He turned the corner onto a less busy street and could just make out the building of his son’s daycare when he felt a slight shift in the air, the telltale sign of a vampire speeding near him, groaning as a familiar voice reached his ears.

“How are you even here?” Marcel demanded.

Joel raised his eyebrow at the question. “Well, if you really don’t know, I’d hate to spoil the surprise, though I think you may be a few hundred years too late.”

His snarkiness received a hateful glare. “Did Davina undagger you?”

Joel breathed deeply before answering, trying to calm his rising annoyance. It would do no good to yell in this situation. “Look, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am not Elijah Mikaelson.” He enunciated every syllable at the end in order to get the message through this guy’s thick skull. 

“Okay, say you’re telling the truth. Why should I believe you?”

“Umm, I don’t know, maybe because you’ve been following me for a week and I haven’t done anything vampiric.” Marcel opened his mouth to tell Joel otherwise but he pushed on before he could say anything. “And don’t even try to deny it. I can spot your lackeys from a mile away.”

He seemed to take forever to think it over and Joel thought of just magically persuading him to leave again, but then he would just keep coming back for answers. “Fine, but you’re gonna have to come with me.”

“You know, I would if you asked nicely and I liked you, but you didn’t and I don’t, so tough luck.”

“That’s cute. You think you have a choice.” The next second, he was inches away from him. “ Now, you’re going to follow me and not say a word the entire time. ”

Joel’s shoulders relaxed and he nodded his understanding. Without another word, Marcel turned around, but before he could take one step, Joel snapped his neck with magic.

Joel scoffed as he looked down at the unconscious vampire at his feet. ‘Arrogant vampires, always thinking compulsion is their one-way ticket to everything. He didn’t even check if I was on vervain or anything.’ He chanced a glance around him to see if anyone noticed his blatant use of magic and was glad to see the street almost bare. He seemed to debate with himself for a few seconds before kneeling down next to Marcel. He couldn’t just leave him in the middle of the street where he could be run over by a car or a horse, not that it would kill him, but it would not go over well with the humans. He grabbed him under the arms and dragged him to the side, propping him up against a storefront so that he was in a sitting position. 

He looked at the scene once more before going on his way, thinking that maybe, just maybe, now that he knew he wasn’t the person that he thought he was, he and his son can finally live in peace.

But, as mentioned before, this was New Orleans. Nothing ever stayed peaceful for long.

—————————————————————–

Marcel walked out of Rousseau’s with a jump in his step and a smile on his face. With any luck, he would be meeting the new bartender Camille here tonight. For now, he was supposed to meet up with Klaus over at the parking garage to check out his two new nightwalkers. He wasn’t too overly excited about having to act all buddy-buddy with Klaus Mikaelson, but you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

He turned a corner and was about to just vamp speed over to the garage when something caught his eye… or someone. His lips pulled back in a snarl and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him. If looks could kill, the whole street would be set ablaze, for the person who sparked his ire was supposed to be laid daggered in a coffin in the attic of St. Louis Cathedral, definitely  _ not  _ walking around the city untethered and unharmed.

“How are you even here,” he growled at him.

“Well, if you really don’t know, I’d hate to spoil the surprise, though I think you may be a few hundred years too late.”

Marcel’s eyes narrowed further at his spunk. “Did Davina undagger you?” The thought that she would go behind his back and not tell him infuriated him. There was no way that she would do that, and that, paired with his next statement, made him start to doubt that this was Elijah after all. 

“Okay, say you’re telling the truth. Why should I believe you?”

“Umm, I don’t know, maybe because you’ve been following me for a week and I haven’t done anything vampiric. And don’t even try to deny it. I can spot your lackeys from a mile away.”

This guy did have a point. If he was a doppelganger, it would explain a lot of things: the kid, his clothes, why they were even standing in the middle of the street having this conversation. The only thing it didn’t explain was how it was even possible. There were only two doppelganger lines… or so he thought. He needed a second opinion on this.

“Fine, but you’re gonna have to come with me.”

“You know, I would if you asked nicely and I liked you, but you didn’t and I don’t, so tough luck.”

Marcel smirked mischievously. “That’s cute. You think you have a choice.” He rushed up to the other guy, who he still hadn’t learned the name of. ‘He admitted he wasn’t a vampire, so this should work.’ “ Now, you’re going to follow me and not say a word the entire time. ” He saw him relax and nod his head in agreement, and that was all he needed to let down his guard. After all, he was a mere human, what could a human do against a vampire?

He turned around to lead them to the cathedral, but before he could focus on anything, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and knew no more.

_ 10 minutes later _

His eyelids fluttered open and he blinked a few times to clear the haze from them before looking around to assess the situation. He was sitting against a red brick wall, and the street was bare except for a young couple walking across from him and a homeless guy up the road. It was then that all the memories of what had occurred before he blacked out came rushing back to him, that along with a wave of anger.

‘That son of a bitch.’ He was pissed. ‘The little shit is a witch.’ He should have known. The whole reason he met him in the first place was that Davina sensed magic in his area, and the only people there were him and his son. And if he was a witch, then he would know about vampires, even before their meeting, and therefore know about vervain.

He suddenly felt his phone in his back pocket vibrating and he took it out to read the caller ID. “Dammit,” he muttered under his breath before pressing the answer button.

“You know, it’s customary to call if you’re going to be late for a date.”

“Sorry, I got distracted. I’ll be there in five, you’re gonna want to hear about this.”


End file.
